About J. Wayne Fears

Frost seeding is one of the less labor and equipment intensive ways to have many small food plots scattered around on a property. I got the idea many years ago from a farmer friend in Kentucky. One snowy February day, he was riding around on his farm looking for sheds. Spotting a shed in an opening of bare ground that was spewed up with ice crystals, he got off his ATV to pick up the shed. As he was walking back to the ATV, it occurred to him that there were dozens of small, bare ground openings like this one on his farm, and when the frozen ground thawed, it would make a good seedbed.

He immediately went to his barn, got a bucket of clover seed and a hand crank seeder, and returned to the bare spot. He broadcast the seed on the frozen ground and in the snow. Over the next few days, he went to similar areas around the farm and broadcast seed on them. My friend wasn’t surprised when the next spring, each of the once-bare places became a lush food plot, ideal for producing spring food for deer and other wildlife.

Now each fall my friend flags bare spots. In winter when the ground is covered in snow, he rides his ATV over the farm, sowing a variety of seed. He reports that his grandchildren have taken several good bucks on the remote mini food plots that had once just been barren spots on his farm.

Nothing New

There is nothing new about frost seeding; farmers have been frost seeding pastures for more than 100 years, and today many deer managers use frost seeding to plant the small food plots that dot their property.

To get even seed distribution, use a calibrated seeder for frost seeding.

You too can employ this easy method of utilizing late winter and early spring freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw cycles to sow seed. The repeated freezing and thawing allows the seed that is broadcast on bare, frozen ground to fall into soil cracks. This keeps the seed from germinating until there is a good moisture supply in early spring. Studies have shown that up to 70% of legume and grass seed that is frost seeded can reach maturity.

Site Selection

Site selection is important to frost seeding. You want good seed-to-soil contact, so select sites that are not littered with dead grass, weeds, and thatch in general. Obviously you don’t want sites that are rocky or swampy, or sites in sandy soil where there is no swelling or shrinking of the soil during the freeze-thaw cycle. Sites that lend themselves well to frost seeding include old logging roads, log landings, edges of old fields, openings in pine plantations, and overgrazed spots in food plots or pastures.

The size of the plot will vary greatly. Some may be large enough to hunt over and many will be small, but when planted, they add to the overall food available for deer and thus to an improved habitat, resulting in a higher carry capacity of deer on the property.

Time of Seeding

Depending upon where you live, the best time for frost seeding is in late winter or early spring when the last snow has occurred, or when there is no snow during the period when the last hard freeze is occurring. While frost seeding can be done over a light snow, if it is attempted on a heavy snow cover, the likelihood is high of a fast thaw resulting in the seeds being washed away with the runoff.

Many property owners who are walking their property during the last freeze, scouting for spring gobblers or hunting sheds, often find bare spots that have been overlooked during the greener parts of the year. I know landowners who keep a sack of seed in their ATV’s or a handful of seed in their hunting coat pocket to seed newly discovered bare earth plots as they are found.

Plant Species

Not all plant seeds are ideal for frost seeding. For long-term food plots, cool season perennials such as white clover, red clover, alfalfa, durana clover, kura clover, nontypical clover, ladino clover, trefoil, and chicory work best. For short term food plots, cool season annuals such as wheat, rye, or oats can be frost seeded, as can cool season brassicas. The downside of some of these annuals is that their seeds are larger and easier for crows, quail, grouse, wild turkey, and birds in general to see. They may be eaten before having an opportunity to germinate.

	A small frost-seeded log landing becomes a mini food plot.

Seeding Techniques

While there are countless numbers of food plots that are frost-seeded by hand each spring, it is best to use a broadcast hand-operated seeder or seeder mounted on an ATV to do your seeding. Usually these seeders can be adjusted for the seed size you are planting, and it is easier to seed at the recommended rate.

Fertilization

It’s not realistic to find a bare ground plot, sow seed using the frost seeding method, and expect to see a plush green food plot all summer long in every case. In fact, the reason the bare plot is available for you to seed just may be because the soil quality is so poor that nothing will grow there. For peak production, each of these mini food plots should have a soil test done and be limed and fertilized according to the soil test results for best long-term results. Once you find these little frozen jewels, mark them so you can find them later in the spring to run soil tests. Also, mark them on the map in your wildlife management plan. Each frost seeding site is a valuable part of your overall habitat management plan if managed correctly.

Frost seeding is a fun excuse to get out onto the property at the end of winter. Combine it with shed hunting, post-season scouting, or looking for gobbler sign, and with a pocketful of seed, you can add another dinner spot for deer and other wildlife.